Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of the team stays unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Increase
The deal would represent a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits recently due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed over $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports film ever released.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
